Alone
by lrbworks
Summary: She had finally gotten him back, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone all over again. (Warning: Major Character Death, Minor Violence)


**_All rights reserved for Hiro Mashima. I only own this work._**

* * *

 _Where am I?_

Lucy's eyes closed almost as soon as they opened as to avoid the dazzling light of the sun's rays. She could feel the warmth kissing her, blissfully welcoming her to lie where she did for the rest of her life, but she knew she would have to get up eventually. Happy and Natsu would undoubtedly come looking for her.

Reluctantly, she peeked one eye open, allowing it to adjust to the radiance before both eyes widened fully. The golden plains extended endlessly, or so it appeared. A light breeze carried the warm air over the field, rustling the grass and caressing her skin. Above her, clouds drifted lazily through the expanse of blue, and, she noticed, there was one shaped like a dragon, and another shaped like Happy.

She smiled.

Everything was so relaxing. It was one of those times in between battles, where all of the stress, heartache, and loss seemed to be but a distant memory. Lucy would go home and take a nice long bubble bath, unwinding all of her muscles and worries along with them. Then, perhaps, she would write more of her novel, or pay the guild a visit. She was always the happiest with Fairy Tail.

"I wonder where Natsu and Happy are. They're probably at my place," she mused aloud, wandering towards the path that had brought her to where she stood. The tranquility of her surroundings did nothing but calm her senses, though, examining it now, she could not seem to recall when she had even traveled the journey to get to the field. Her eyes widened.

She knew where Happy and Natsu were, and it was not at her apartment.

Like a dam finally shattering, all of her memories came rushing back to her. Someone shook her shoulders, only adding to the overwhelming sensation that swallowed her whole, and her setting transformed into one of despair.

Magnolia was up in flames. Smoke covered the vast blanket of blue that was the sky, blocking the stars from her view, and against the darkened canvas, flames of red, orange, and yellow danced carelessly. Blasts of magic exploded from all around – it was her friends, still fighting for their lives – and her apartment building was in ruins. The sight caused tears to sprout in her eyes, but she relented from letting them falling, her gaze instead finding the person who had relentlessly thrashed her around until she woke.

Gray was staring at her, breathing raggedly and his eyes wild. Blood trickled down the side of his face from a wound on his head and a little bit dribbled over his chin, while the rest of his body was decorated with scrapes and bruises. Juvia stood guard behind him, just as roughened up, but still, her resolve was strong as she prepared herself for anything.

"How did this happen?" Lucy whispered, disbelief on her features. It was rhetorical, though, because they all knew how it happened.

"What happened, Lucy?" Gray questioned, eyes flickering from her to what had previously been her apartment.

"I-I–" she stammered, drawing in a deep breath. "Brandish… She…"

 _That's right. Brandish was in my apartment._

Vaguely, Lucy was able to recall what happened. They initiated the plan that Mavis had so elaborately developed, but somewhere, it went wrong. There were too many enemies. The unexpected numbers threw the First's calculations off and Warren let everybody know about the drastic increase in opponents through his telepathy, and for a second, everybody had collectively believed there was no hope. Then a familiar voice had spoken up.

 _C'mon, everybody! We're Fairy Tail, the strongest guild in all of Fiore, and we've got the next strongest guilds on our side, too! As long as we work together, we're unstoppable!_

It was a tearful moment for Lucy, but only a moment. Not too long after the telepathic pep-talk, Lucy discovered Brandish _in her bathtub._ Now, she had encountered some pretty strange enemies (Dan, who had turned into an ally, Kain, and Klodoa were just a few of them), but none of them had ever had the nerve to arrive so _casually_.

Brandish rose from the tub and got dressed, uncaring that she bore everything for Lucy to see. Disinterestedly she spoke of the ongoing battle, informing Lucy that she was not fond of getting involved in matters for which she did not care. She even rummaged through Lucy's fridge, taking out a cup of mango yogurt (it seemed that she had a thing for mangoes) and then announcing her departure. Before Lucy could stop her, she walked out the door, and that was when it had happened.

One of the ships above fired at her building. As she flew backwards from the force of the gale caused by the blast, Lucy realized that Freed's barrier must not have held up. _I hope they're okay,_ she had thought before her consciousness was forcefully taken from her.

Now, she was here.

"Where is everyone?" she asked suddenly, zoning back into reality. It was clear that they were scattered all around, but she wanted the specifics. Lucy _needed_ to know that everyone was okay.

"Erza is taking down some of the ships to rest. She managed to take down Ajeel," Gray informed her, and the relief between them was shared. "Last time I saw Natsu and Happy, they were fighting against some of the men on the ground. Gajeel, Wendy, Lily, and Carla, too. The Thunder Legion was under attack, but I'm pretty sure they're okay since Blue Pegasus stepped in to help them. I'm not sure about anyone else. Warren's telepathy cut out."

Lucy nodded, attempting to push herself off the ground. However, her attempt was in vain as she fell back with a strangled cry, cradling her right hand to her chest. The pain was absolutely excruciating and it was a wonder she had not noticed it before.

"It was stuck under some debris," Gray stated with melancholy.

Setting her jaw, Lucy used her other hand to push herself up, and, with Gray's assistance, she stood on wobbly feet. "I can fight," she breathed, though it was more to convince herself than anyone else. "As long as I can stand, I can fight."

"Juvia thinks you should rest for a bit," Juvia suggested, striding over to the pair. The way her hand immediately found Gray's did not go unnoticed by Lucy.

"I'm… fine," Lucy assured them, lifting her arm and eyeing her hand. It was crumpled and strange, bruises painted on her pale complexion and blood streaking over her guild insignia. It looked so _wrong_.

"Then please stay with Juvia and Gray-sama."

Lucy's anger boiled. "I don't need to be protected!" Her fierce brown eyes startled both of them. It was a look they had seen only a few times before, and never had it been directed at them. "I've gotten a lot stronger, okay? I can fight for myself."

"We know, Lucy," Gray responded. "It's just–"

A pillar of fire to the side caught their attention, diminishing the words that Gray had intended to say to her. Both of them knew who it was. _Natsu_.

"I want you to go find Warren," she ordered, her voice almost professional. "Make sure he's safe and have him set up a telepathic network again. If you can't find him, find Hibiki. He can do it, too."

"Lucy, wait!"

There was no time to wait, and all three of them knew that. Lucy was already tearing across the town, dodging rubble and avoiding hordes of enemy troops – until, of course, she could not stray from the battle any longer.

A large group of soldiers from the Alvarez Empire surrounded her, baring weapons and laughing because she was just one pre-injured girl.

"Open! Gate of the Lion, Leo!" she called, pulling the key from her case. "Stardress! Leo Form!"

"Your prince has arrived," Loke smirked, pushing up his sunglasses with one finger. As he rolled up his sleeves, he glanced around, but was quick to mask the horror on his face with his usual sangfroid. "Glad I can help."

"Let's take them out!" Lucy called over her shoulder, clenching her one good fist.

"Anything for you, beautiful," Loke responded coquettishly, cracking his knuckles.

Simultaneously they lurched forward, attacking their enemies. Leo punched one of the many with a shout of "Regulus Impact!", which sent his opponent flying into two others. Lucy's foot swept up off the ground into the chin of another, her voice echoing when she yelled "Regulus Lucy Kick!"

"Nice job, Loke!" she complimented once all of the Alvarez soldiers were out of their way. "I'll call you if I need you again!"

He ran alongside her for a moment, unwilling to leave as he glanced at her. It was there on his face, unmistakable: pure _fear_. Loke was terrified that his friends at Fairy Tail were not going to make it out alive, and he wanted to be there to fight for them, too. However, Lucy was his wizard, so her will was his command. "All right, Lucy. Be careful."

With a glimmer of golden light, he disappeared back to the Celestial Spirit World, leaving Lucy on her own. Her shoes were loud against the ground but she did not care. Whatever was thrown her way, she could handle, as long as it meant saving her friends.

Her agility was surprising as she rounded a corner, heading to where Natsu surely had to be, but the blonde was stopped dead in her tracks.

In the middle of what had once been a busy street stood a dark-haired man. His eyes were dark, too, as well as the clothes in which he was clad. He was someone she had never met before, yet, somehow, she knew exactly who he was. This man, standing so placidly before her, was Zeref, the great black wizard – their greatest foe.

"Lucy Heartfilia."

His voice did not send tremors down her spine as she had expected it to do. Rather, it caused her forehead to crease in confusion, because it was not filled with disdain or contempt of any sort. Her name left his lips in a simple statement, as if pointing out to her that she was Lucy Heartfilia, but his eyes were a different story. They chilled her to the bone, staring so intently at her that it felt like he could see her very soul.

"Zeref," she said, spreading her feet, prepared to fight. "Where's Natsu?"

There was no chance she could beat him, but she would not run away. If she ran away, it would be as bad as betraying her family. They were all fighting their hardest, so she owed it to them to do the same.

"You're important to him, aren't you?" Zeref pondered, unfazed by her sudden willingness to battle. Before Lucy could ask, though, he was nodding to himself, mumbling nonsensical things that her ears could not pick up on.

"Stop talking to yourself and fight me!" she demanded, waving her arms up and down indignantly. It would have been embarrassing, had the situation not been so serious: she was trying to fight the greatest black wizard to ever walk the earth and rather than engaging her in combat, he was muttering to himself.

"If you die, he'll be _so_ angry." Zeref eyes shone with excitement, almost, and then a wave of dark magic surged from his core.

Lucy shrieked as the ground below her disappeared, her impact cushioned by Virgo's hands on her rear. "Sorry to intrude so suddenly, Princess," Virgo apologized.

"No, you're a life saver," Lucy gasped, realizing that the breath had been knocked from her lungs by the shock.

Virgo aided her in climbing out of the ditch before crawling out herself, standing next to the celestial mage with determination on her face. "This is our enemy, Princess?" Her electric blue eyes were focused on Zeref, whose eyes were widened slightly, tinted red rather than the darkness Lucy had seen before. "The black wizard?"

"That's him," Lucy apprised, pointing an accusatory finger at her opponent. "He's the one who's caused Fairy Tail so much pain!"

"He'll be angry enough to kill me," Zeref murmured to himself, his head bobbing slowly up and down to confirm a question that had never been asked.

"Open! Gate of the Archer, Sagittarius!" Lucy yelled, her centaur spirit appearing on her left. "You're going down, Zeref! Virgo, Sagittarius, take him out!"

Virgo moved first, digging a hole in the ground and appearing in front of Zeref. "Spica Lock!" Her hands clapped together and as they did, debris from all around locked around Zeref's form, trapping him in a sphere made of rocks and boulders. For a moment, nobody moved, but Lucy was doubtful that a handful of rocks was enough to subdue him.

Validating her assumptions, the ball exploded, rocks crushing Virgo. "Sorry, Princess…" she apologized weakly, disappointment in herself clear on her features.

"You did your best, Virgo! Rest up!" Lucy affirmed, glancing at Sagittarius. "Okay, Sagittarius! Do your thing!"

"As you wish!" Sagittarius saluted the air (although, Lucy supposed her meant to salute her) before drawing an arrow back on his bow. "Nobody can avoid my arrows!" The arrow launched into the air, separating into several separate arrows, and not a single one touched Zeref. Instead, Zeref redirected them towards Lucy with a wave of his hand. Sagittarius jumped in front of her in the nick of time, preventing any of them from piercing her. "Sorry… Miss Lucy…"

"Open! Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!" Lucy's hand, holding two keys, extended into the air, and the large cow spirit was at her side in seconds. "Open! Gate of the Lion, Leo!" Loke, again, appeared on the battlefield, ready and willing to fight.

"Trying to hurt Miss L _u_ cy was the worst _moo_ ve of your life!" Taurus exclaimed, surging forward and bring his ax down to the earth. Zeref simply sidestepped the attack, ignoring the way the ground beneath his feet cracked, and with a blast of magic from his palm he sent Taurus back home.

Loke was not as brash. He determined different battle strategies they could use but none of them seemed powerful enough to trump Zeref. His gaze was repentant as it befell his blonde companion. "Lucy, I'm not sure we can beat him."

The glare she turned on him was almost cutthroat, but there was a desperation cantering behind it that he could not ignore. "We have to!" she stated.

He held eye contact for her with a moment before smirking, nodding in agreement. "You're right," he nodded. "We can't doubt ourselves now, can we?"

" _Over there! The emperor!"_

Lucy and Loke both blanched at the sound of footsteps approaching rapidly – more than one set, too. A squadron of soldiers came into view, and Loke cursed under his breath.

"You deal with them," Lucy said, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. A small smile, barely there, lifted her lips. "I'll take on Zeref."

Before he could protest, she was rushing towards the black wizard. Loke needed to defeat those guys as soon as possible so he could return to Lucy's side.

"Regulus Lucy Kick!" Lucy hollered, jumping into the air and bringing her foot down towards Zeref.

To her horror, her caught her around the ankle, and the light power granted to her by Loke dissipated into nothingness. Then Zeref tossed her to the ground like she was litter, scraping up her skin even more than it had been before. "Know your place," Zeref commanded, looking down on her.

Lucy pushed herself up with one hand, her hurt one held gently to her chest, and only one eye opened to look at Zeref. "You hurt my friends… and my family… I won't forgive you!" Her Stardress disappeared and was replaced with her normal clothes, but it was purposeful; the mage sprung off the ground, cracking her Fleuve d'étoiles at Zeref as hard as she could manage.

Simply, his hand wrapped around the end of the whip and he yanked on it, causing Lucy to roll across the ground until she hit the remains of a brick wall. A cry of pain passed through her lips and Loke glanced over his shoulder, concerned – but the number of his opponents continuously grew, so he could not aid her without giving the Alvarez soldiers the advantage.

"This'll make him so _angry_ ," Zeref smirked, and the look was unsettling. His hand raised, an open palm facing her, and she could feel the magic power building up in his impending attack. "Do you have anything left to say, Lucy Heartfilia?"

"We'll defeat you," she spat, struggling to her feet. Swaying slightly, she spread her feet apart, holding her limp arm. The pain had spread from her hand up to her elbow until it numbed itself, which Lucy knew was a bad sign, but at the moment, it was the least of her worries. "Fairy Tail will destroy you."

"I'm _counting_ on it."

A torrent of dark magic was hurtled her way, building up in size as it neared her, and she had a sense of déjà vu. Her body was unable to move since she knew there was no way for her to dodge it, much like the time Rogue had come back from the future to kill her. Her eyes were wide as she leaned to one side, hoping to avoid it, but her moves were too sluggish.

Her friend's were not.

Someone entered the battle just in time, literally sweeping her off her feet and into his arms. The attack of magic hit the wall behind where she had been, causing the last of it to crumble into nothing but dust and pebbles.

Lucy's eyes shifted from Zeref to the wall, and the remained their for a moment before resting on her savior. Her eyes burned with tears upon catching sight of the familiar pink mop of hair, sticking out against the dark scenery around them. "Natsu!" she cried in relief, and had she not been in his arms, she would have thrown her own around him.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" he asked, but his glare was permanently locked on Zeref.

"Mhm," she murmured, nodding once.

Once was enough, because he set her on her feet and kept his arm secured around her waist. She let her arm wrap loosely around his body, too, because she felt like her legs would give out at any second.

Natsu bared his teeth at Zeref. "I heard you've been looking for me."

"This will be the final battle," Zeref announced, stepping towards the pair. "It will determine whether or not you are finally strong enough."

As the black wizard drew nearer, Natsu's grip on Lucy tightened, shifting her so she was slightly angled behind him. "You bet your ass I'm strong enough," Natsu snarled. "You hurt the people I care about. You're gonna pay. _I'm gonna burn you down to a pile of ashes_." Gently, though, entirely contradicting his tone, Natsu lowered Lucy to the ground, allowing her to sit on her knees and rest. "Stay here."

"But–"

He glowered over his shoulder at her and she silenced herself, swallowing. _I have faith in Natsu._

Wasting no time, Natsu drew in a deep breath. " _Fire Dragon's Roar!"_ The beam of fire launched itself at Zeref, who nimbly dodged it, only allowing it to singe the edges of his robes.

 _I've always believed in him._

He sprung into the air again, coming down right on top of Zeref. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art: _Crimson Lotus, Exploding Lightning Blade!"_ A surge of fire and lightning barraged Zeref, and Lucy understood. Natsu was not holding back whatsoever, and he did not want her caught in the crossfire.

 _Since the very beginning._

This time, Natsu's attack actually hit Zeref, sending the black wizard bouncing and skidding across the ground. From his spot, Zeref fires a ball of magic at Natsu, but the dragon slayer avoids it and jumps over it, crashing down onto Zeref.

" _Fire Dragon Sword Horn!"_ The top of his head rammed into Zeref's, creating a crater in the ground with the force of their combined magic. " _Fire Dragon Talons!"_

Lucy watched as they fought one another, neither of them really gaining the upperhand, but she especially noticed the difference in Natsu's abilities. He really had grown over the course of the last year. His magic power was far greater than before, much like hers, and just in the way he attacked it was clear how much stronger he had gotten. He had gotten stronger to protect his family at Fairy Tail, and that was what he was doing now.

"I'm tapping out, Lucy," Loke informed her, waving a quick goodbye.

He had finished defeated the troop of soldiers and took that as his cue to leave. Even he could probably tell how drained she was, especially since she used so much magic power after the explosion at her building.

Now it was just her, Natsu, and Zeref.

"Nobody hurts my family and gets away with it!" Natsu roared, a flaming fist flying towards Zeref's face.

The dark mage caught it with ease, smothering the flames with his bare hands. "We'll see about that."

The next few seconds felt like they were stretched across eternities. Zeref involved Lucy in the fight once more, an orb of pure dark power sent her way. Her eyes were wide, focused, convinced that the ball of evil would be her undoing. Then, in the blink of an eye, a body was shielding hers, and the darkness paved its way through her rescuer's torso, flickering a bit until it disappeared in mid-air.

A nauseating silence fell over the area as Natsu collapsed to the ground.

" _NATSU!_ " The scream Lucy released tore its way past her lips, burning the inside of her throat with the strained effort. Somehow – probably due to the abrupt adrenaline pumping through her veins – she scrambled to her feet, stumbling quickly towards him and falling to her knees at his side. "Natsu?! Natsu!"

"I guess you weren't strong enough, after all," Zeref sighed. "That's unfortunate." His tone was light, as if he had not just taken away a life that was so precious to so many people. Then, as he whirled around, he faded until he was gone entirely.

"Natsu! Please! Stay awake!" Lucy begged, pulling him into her lap. Her arms wrapped around him, cradling his head against her chest, rocking back and forth. " _HAPPY! CARLA! SOMEBODY! WENDY! GAJEEL! PLEASE! HELP HIM!"_

"Lucy…" he gasped. His voice was weak but even as she looked at him, the fire still burned brightly in his eyes. "You're crying."

She had not even been aware of the hot tears pouring from her eyes. "Don't give me a reason to cry," she pleaded, her lower lip trembling.

There was so much blood.

His shaky hand lifted, wiping the tears from one of her cheeks. The familiar hotness of his skin seemed fainter now, but his calloused fingers still burned at the touch. "It's gonna be okay," he assured her. His hand slid from her face to the back of her neck, pulling her closer so that their foreheads touched. "Don't cry, Lucy."

She let out a shuddering breath, doing her best to prevent her tears from falling. It was an effort in vain, though, because they still rolled down her cheeks and splattered against Natsu's clothes. "You told me that you want to live because you look towards the future," she whispered with a quivering voice, wide brown eyes looking into his half-lidded ones. "Live, Natsu. You've made it through everything else. This is nothing."

"I wanted… a future with you," he admitted, his voice low. "I don't know what kind of future, but… I wanted a future where you're smiling, Lucy."

Her eyes squeezed shut, a sob wrenching itself from her mouth, her shoulders shaking with the effort of crying. "Please… don't leave me again."

"I don't want you to be sad," he mumbled, his hand lowering even further so that he could hold her hand.

"How can I not be?" she asked, her voice cracking. "You're my best friend, Natsu! I–I love you! We all do! I don't want to lose you."

"I'll always be around," he grinned. She did not need to open her eyes to know he was grinning; she could hear it, plain as day, in his words. "Smile for me, Lucy."

It took all of her willpower to suppress the weeping she desperately wanted to release. Instead, though, she pried her eyes open, smiling like she would have any other day. It was so hard not to break down into tears, to force that joyous expression onto her face.

"You've gotten so… strong," he slurred. All at once, he went limp. His hand fell from hers, falling to the ground beside the rest of his body, and his head turned to the side, mouth slightly agape.

"Natsu," she whispered, her throat tightening. It became hard to breath, so she shook him, hoping to rouse his awake. He did not move. " _NATSU!"_ Her yell drawled out into a blood-curdling scream, scaring off a few birds that had, for some reason, decided to spectate.

Her yowl died down to heavy sobs as she clutched at Natsu's muscular frame, hugging him, praying to whatever deity was up there to turn back time and let him live. She had no idea if she could go on without him.

 _Lucy, we've got a telepathic connection up!_ It was Gray.

She could not find it in her to respond.

It was not fair. Natsu did not deserve to die. He was ill-tempered sometimes, and he ate too much, and he broke some laws sometimes. He burned down buildings and got into way too many fights for a normal person. He also saved lives, made people smile, and he was someone who everybody loved. He brightened people's days with just a few words and he made her heart flutter with that wide grin of his.

Sometimes she found his antics irritating. She constantly got annoyed with his breaking into her apartment and she would curse him for devouring every last bit of food in her fridge – but what she wouldn't give to go home and find him raiding her fridge, or asleep in her bed, or taking a bath, alive and well. Everything for which she had gotten mad at him seemed so petty now.

She felt like part of her had died, too. _You wanna join Fairy Tail, right?_ He was the one who had introduced her to Fairy Tail. _We're a team now!_ He had her join his team, along with Happy, and from then on it expanded until Erza, Gray, Wendy, and Carla were all a part of it. He had supported her through thick and thin. He had always been by her side, to save her, to make her laugh, to make her happy. He just wanted her to be happy. He became her very best friend, someone she could always count on, no matter what; someone who still managed to make her smile in the hardest of times; someone she thought would _always_ be there for her. Somewhere along the way, she had decided she loved him, and the type of love, whether platonic, romantic, or anything else, did not matter.

The light of her life had been stolen from her in an instant.

 _I can't get through to Natsu, though._ Warren was speaking this time. _Lucy, what's going on?_

Lucy threw her head back, her hold on Natsu tightening, and she let her sobs out loud and clear to the sky. She wanted whatever sick and twisted god to know how much wrong he had committed with that one act; how much pain he had caused her.

Her sobs echoed through the night.

 _You're leaving me all over again. I'm gonna be so lonely… stupid…_


End file.
